HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Happy Holidays!
On behalf of all the staff at HBB, we would like to wish you a very Happy Holidays! We hope you all have a great break and we will see you all next year!

BOXTOPS
The following classes are the winners of the BOXTOPS competition!  They collected more BOXTOPS than any other class at their grade and each of these classes will be receiving a special trophy and their name on a plaque that will be hanging in the main office.  We will be giving out the trophy during each community meeting...... Mrs. Kaufman's class received theirs last week!

In total we raised $1667.50!  Thank you to everyone who helped collect BOXTOPS and congratulations to our winners....great job!

Grade 1 - Bartlett (overall winner!)

Grade 2 - Enos

Grade 3 - Hickie

Grade 4 - McPherson

Grade 5 - Kaufman

PARCC
The School Committee has voted  to administer the paper and pencil version of PARCC at the Elementary Schools this year to all students in grades 3-5 for ELA and Math, a move we fully support.  There is much confusion out there in regards to the state of testing in Massachusetts but I would like to take a brief moment to catch everyone up to speed, provide a few helpful links and explain the decision.

You may have heard in the news that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has scrapped PARCC in favor of MCAS 2.0.  While this is accurate, what is not fully understood is the fact that MCAS 2.0 has yet to be developed, thus making this year a transition year.  The State has allowed school districts to choose between traditional MCAS and PARCC for this year but they are strongly encouraging districts to choose PARCC because it is much more comparable to what we will see on MCAS 2.0 and making the change now will better prepare students over the long term.

We agree that moving to PARCC now gives our students the best chance to succeed over time.    Moving to PARCC gives our students and staff the opportunity to experience the kind of test and questions that they will have moving forward.  PARCC, and eventually MCAS 2.0 are much different than traditional MCAS and we want to ensure that our students are prepared to succeed by the time they need to pass the test in order to graduate, and we believe this is an important first step.  We also believe that our students are ready and prepared for this test and we are confident that all all go well.

As I have said in years past with MCAS, this is just one assessment.  While we certainly take it very seriously, at this grade level it is more informational for us as a school than it is for each individual student.  We know prior to taking the test how each student is doing and we do not read too much into any one student's performance on the test.  Student grades are not connected to the test results and we also do not believe it paints the whole picture of a schools' performance.  We will also continue to administer MCAS Science to grade 5 (all districts in the state have to administer MCAS Science).

You will hear much more from me moving forward about this but if you are interested in learning more information about PARCC and the chance please check out some of the following links.

http://www.parcconline.org/resources/parent-resources

http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/decisionfaq.html

Character Word of the Week
Congratulations to our winners this week!

Report Cards are Coming!

MassPass Books
Please don’t forget to return all un-purchased MassPass Books!

Report Cards

Please be on the lookout for Report Cards.....they are coming home today!   If you are looking for more info on interpreting the report cards please read some of my earlier posts.  If you have ANY questions please do not hesitate to give us a call!

Why is writing important?...The Writing Challenge!
Our newest challenge to earn a Burkland’s BEST Bead is the Writing Challenge. Writing has been a major focus for us here at HBB because research has shown that high achieving schools successfully balance the focus on developing student’s Speaking and Writing Skills as well as Reading and Listening Skills.

In fact, research has shown that people who become, in one way or another, “producers” of content….people who write…..tend to be more successful in life than those who are considered primarily “consumers” of information. Writing is an essential skill for success in life.

Here are some other reasons writing is so important

• Writing is the primary basis upon which a student’s learning and intellect will be judged in school, college and in the workforce.
• Writing helps students become stronger readers. The process of learning to be an author, and developing the ability to get your point across to the reader, makes it easier to empathize and understand authors when reading…..the two skills are intimately connected! 
• Writing makes your thinking visible.
• Writing expresses who you are as a person.
• Writing helps develop a student’s ability to develop their thoughts, explain complex positions, develop strong arguments and express opinions.

Writing is an essential skill! Please encourage your child to take the Writing Challenge. All students who participate will receive their writing bead and a select few will be awarder the Super Reader bead as well and will be asked to read their piece during the morning announcements.

Investigations

I had the pleasure of visiting Mrs. Card's class this week and I was very impressed with the writing of her students.  They were wrapping up their investigation posters and their writing was impressive!

Hour of Code

Our students at HBB joined millions of students from around the wold this week by participating in an Hour of Code.  Students were taught the basics of computer coding and they absolutely loved it.  Thank you to Ellen Driscoll, Peg Corey, Louise Bertelli and High School Student Dan Duphily for helping organize this AWESOME event!  

5th Grade Student Leaders

Here is a great pic of our Student Leaders decorating the front of the school!  Thank you!

Golden Broom Award

Congratulations to our Golden Broom Award winners from the past few weeks!  Great job keeping your class, the halls and lunch room clean!  

Super Readers!

We are excited to have a few more students who are being added to the exclusive ranks of Super Readers!  Only a few students have earned this bead.....great job guys!

Character Word of the Week Winners

Congrats to all our Character Word of the Week winners.  We are impressed with your ability to exemplify our character words of Teamwork and Leadership and Respect!

Report Cards and Whole Bunch of Other Stuff!

Report Cards and Report Card Night

Do you have questions about the Report Card?  If so please join us this Monday December 7th from 4-5 as I will be hosting an open forum to discuss the Report Cards and answer any questions you might have.  

Report Cards are coming home December 12th. Discussing report cards with your child, especially in the age of standards based report cards, can be challenging. The reporting system we use is very different from the grades we all received when we were students and understanding what it all means, in the context of how your child is doing, can be tough.

When you receive the report card you will see numbers next to standards. The numbers on the report card are as follows;

4. Demonstrating mastery of the standard

3. Demonstrating significant progress toward the standard

2. Demonstrating some progress

1. Demonstrating minimal progress

The numbers indicate the progress your child is making towards meeting the grade level standard. The standards listed throughout the report card list what we want your child to know and be able to do by the end of the year.

Not all standards will be “graded” on this report card because we  not taught all the standards yet. While there may be instances where your child is Demonstrating Mastery of a particular standard, students are not expected to be receiving 4’s at this point because those standards are what we expect for students by the end of the year and there is still much work to be done with many of the standards.

Additionally, the score that students receive next to each standard do not reflect how hard your child is working. The scores reflect what your child is able to do in relation to that expectation. To find out how hard your child is working and if they are completing work you must refer to the section of the report card, which refers to Successful Social and Learner Behaviors. This is a little different from what many of us are accustomed to and is different from traditional grading. It is possible for a student to struggle with their Learner Behaviors yet still Demonstrate Mastery of a Standard. Lastly, you must refer to the description of each score because there is no correlation between a 1-4 on the current report card and the traditional grades of A,B,C,D,F of the past.

Should you have any questions at all about the report card or your child’s progress in school please do not hesitate to contact us or plan on joining us Monday!

MassPass Books

 
Writing Challenge
Please encourage your child to participate in the Writing Challenge.  Writing has been a big focus for us these last couple of years and we have made great gains as a result.  Below is the Writing Challenge announcement and there is additional information on the right hand side of this blog.

Lost and Found

Please encourage your child to look through the lost and found next week to make sure they don't have anything in there!  We will be boxing things up because we have a large amount of items. We display all items in the cafeteria for students during lunches everyday.  We have been making announcements asking kids to take a look through it but many kids may not know they are missing anything.  If you are aware of your child missing any clothing please encourage them to take a look....thank you!  

Report to Parents on Setting Goals!